The present invention disclosed herein relates to an optical module protection cover and an optical modem including the same, and more particularly, a protection cover for protecting an optical module in an optical modem in which the optical module may be removed from the optical modem without opening an optical modem case.
In more detail, since an optical module is installed on an edge of a case to secure a clearance for an optical modem, a protection cover is installed on the case and then locked to prevent the optical module from being accidentally separated from the case, thereby preventing the optical module from being robbed. Furthermore, the separation of an optical cable coupled to the optical module may be prevented to fundamentally preventing optical losses occurring while the optical cable is separated, thereby preventing safety accidents.
In recent years, internet traffic is significantly increasing continuously. As the construction of wired and wireless integrated network is visualized, development of an optical access network technology that is represented by the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is being accelerated. A passive optical network (PON) technology that leads FTTH markets may be a point-to-multipoint based optical access network technology using, as a remove node (RN), a passive splitter in which it is unnecessary to supply a power.
Thus, since the PON technology has advantages of not only providing a high bandwidth to a subscriber but also significantly reducing network operation costs because the PON technology is realized by using only a passive device such as a splitter, the PON technology being spread in use.
The PON technology may be largely classified into two technologies according to multiplexing and multiplexing access techniques. One of the two technologies is a time division multiplexing (TDM)-PON, and the other is a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)-PON. Here, the TDM-PON may include a broadband PON (B-PON) and gigabit-capable PON (G-PON) that are standardized by ITU-T and an Ethernet PON (E-PON) that is standardized by IEEE.
Recently, the ITU-T and IEEE enhance each PON standard to a level of about 10 Gbps so as to satisfy bandwidth requirements of the user. Also, the ITU-T has completed the XG-PON1 (10 Gigabit PON) standard following the G-PON, and The IEEE has completed the 10G-EPON standard following the E-PON.
FIG. 1 is a view of an example of a 10G-EPON according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, a 10G-EPON 2 has a structure in which a plurality of subscriber-side optical network terminals (ONTs) 10 (or optical modems 20) share a carrier-side optical line terminal (OLT) 10 and an optical cable 40 by using a TDM-PON-based time division technique.
The 10G-EPON 2 includes the communication company-side 10G-EPON OLT 10, the subscriber-side the EPON ONT 20, and an optical distribution network (ODN) 30 for an optical signal distribution (downstream light signal power splitting and upstream light signal power coupling) between the 10G-EPON OLT 10 and the EOPON ONT 20.
The 10G-EOPN OLT 10 includes a MAC module 12, a three-wavelength optical transceiver 14, and a wavelength division splitter/coupler 16. The three-wavelength optical transceiver 14 may include a 10G optical transceiver 10G TX generating a 10G downstream signal, a 1G optical transceiver 1G TX generating a 1G downstream signal, and a dual-rate burst mode optical receiver (dual-rate BMR) receiving a burst mode signal in which the 1G signal and the 10G signal are mixed with each other.
As a result, users may enjoy Giga Internet which is 10 times faster than 100 Mbps through PCs, IP-TVs, and VoIPs in homes, i.e., Internet service that offers speeds greater than maximum 1 Gbps. Thus, the users may watch high-quality video in real time or share Giga data at a faster speed.
Referring to FIG. 2, an optical module (not shown) is installed on a PCB within an optical modem 20. When the optical module is disposed at a center of the PCB, since the number of components increases, the total volume of the optical modem 20 may increase.
Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3, since the optical module is disposed on an edge of the PCB, a space for installing surplus equipment may be secured at the center to maintain an original size of a case of the optical modem 20 even though the number of components increases. Here, it may be difficult to separate the optical module 22 without opening the case of the optical modem 20.
Thus, when the optical module 22 is installed on the edge of the PCB, the optical module 22 may be partially exposed from the case of the optical modem 20. Since the optical module 22 is installed to be partially exposed from the case of the optical modem 20, the optical module 22 may be removed without opening the case of the optical modem 20. Accordingly, a user or third person can easily remove and take the optical module because the optical module is very expensive.
Also, when the optical cable 40 is separated from the optical module 22, light emitted from a laser diode (LD) may be lost from the optical cable 40 while data is transmitted. Here, if the lost light is illuminated to eyes of a person, the person may go blind. Thus, it is important that the optical cable 40 does not accidentally separate from the optical module 22.